


A Horror-fying mix up

by Sephypsycologist



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 15:16:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17103017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sephypsycologist/pseuds/Sephypsycologist
Summary: Milk just wanted to go to Underswap.Splash is just unreliable.





	1. Meeting Axe

Ink had left him here alone, and now that he was staring at the local Sans, Milk knew this was most definitely NOT Underswap.

“h-hey there, b-b-buddy,” he backed up slowly, barely making headway in the slush on the ground.

“heya, small fry,” the sans with the massive hole in his skull leered down at him. “what’s a tidbit your size doing in this world, hm? sightseeing?”

“ink got c-confused and left me. he’s coming back,” it wasn’t a lie, but Milk wouldn’t be back for several hours, if he even remembered. There’d been more than one time Milk had been left to have a sleepover with Red or Classic.

This skeleton looked a lot like Classic….if he’d gone through a war zone. Torn clothes, blood stains, and only one giant glaring red eye light with a pupil in it. Pupils in eye lights were not normal, and seeing it on this guy was making Milk even more nervous.

“well, he won’t mind if i take a little liberty with you, i’m sure. after all, he’s so caring when it comes to the people who inhabit the aus.” Milk knew exactly how much sarcasm was dripping off that statement. And he couldn’t help but nod in agreement.

Chuckling at his nod, the scary Sans cooed, “what a tiny thing you are. might as well introduce myself. ink tends to call me axe or horror, which is stupid because my name is sans just like you.”

“he calls me milk,” the tiny rattling bones squeak out.

“heh….hahahahaha….hahahahahahahaha! oh that’s rich! oh stars!” Axe goes into a manic laughing fit. The hand around Milk clenches tight and he starts to struggle as he feels the pressure increase painfully. “the squid brought me food! finally!”

Milk screams in panic as Axe holds him up above his mouth, and there’s a dark grin from his captor, “sorry, friend, but it’s eat or be eaten around here.”

“not likely!” Milk moved more on instinct than anything, but he could see straight down Axe’s gullet at this angle and he used his magic quick.

Startled when he felt something shifting, Axe ended up sitting down in the snow hard, and Milk was flung off into the snow.

“wh-what’d….?” Axe murmured, feeling dizzy and sick. “o-oh stars…”

Milk picked himself up from the snow and scrambled away from Axe, “i did you a favor, even if you didn’t deserve it. you got a full stomach for once, so you don’t have to eat me.” He huffed and brushed himself off, glaring.

“i do?” Axe looked down and made a strangled noise. Milk was right; there was an opaque red sheet between his ribs and pelvis, stretched taut and giving out small gurgles of protest.

“geeze, if you’d just asked, i’d have given it to you at your house. let you use a glass and everything, go slow and not upset your system, but noooo,” Milk tapped his foot as Axe stared at himself, “you had to be mr edgy au and try to eat me against my will, and for keeps, too. so now you’ve got a nice stomach ache to go with your bad attitude.”

“heheh…i don’t….i don’t care. it hurts less than being empty for seven years has,” Axe’s expression got a bit less harsh, and he started shaking a bit. “c-could you….have no right to ask, but i’m gonna…could you do the glass thing. for my brother?”

He felt his soul ache at that desperate question, and Milk nodded, “sure. there’s no way i’d leave papyrus without food. i’ll fill up your fridge if you have any empty bottles of any kind. but it’s for his sake, not yours.”

“i know that.” Axe huffed, finally flopping backward in the snow and closing his sockets. “i lost any right to people caring years ago. just give me a second and i’ll get you there.”

Milk nodded and leaned against a tree. He could wait, and for Papyrus, he’d wait forever. It was just what a brother did, even if this wasn’t HIS Papyrus.


	2. Meeting the brother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chompers deserves some food, too

Axe got up and took Milk (gently) back to his home. This skeleton was worth more to him alive than dust, and it seemed, if Axe was gauging his reactions to his badmouthing Ink right, that he didn’t exactly like the ‘creator’ either.

That was a plus for Axe.

But now to get home. His brother was waiting there, and he was so excited to finally have something…wholesome, to show him.

Milk was nervous, of course, after a meeting like that, but he’d stick around till Papyrus could be taken care of. The house was rough, to be kind, and Axe’s voice when he walked in was grating. “bro, i found something funny in the woods.”

“WHAT SORT OF SOMETHING FUNNY?” came a screechy Papyrus voice from the kitchen, which Milk did not want to see.

“funny bones.” Axe smiled, genuinely for once, and he and Milk chuckled about the pun.

“YOU ARE NOT GETTING ANY FRISBEES IF YOU JUST MADE A PUN, SANS!” Papyrus walked in, and Milk felt his eye lights extinguish. Axe’s brother was an absolute mess. Gangly, discolored bones, broken and blood-stained teeth, shrunken peering sockets…good stars he was disheartening to look at.

“paps, look,” Axe’s harsh voice was soft as he addressed his brother, and Milk shook himself out of the shock. “yeah, i made a pun, but this little guy can help us. look at what he did to me.”

Papyrus tilted his head, then gasped when Axe showed off the filled gap from pelvis to ribs. “HE CAN-”

“shhh! shh, bro, inside voice, please! we can’t let anybody else know,” Axe pulled Milk close to his chest, making the little skele lose his balance.

“But why not, Sans? If he can make food, especially enough to make THAT happen…we can’t just keep it for ourselves?” Papyrus fidgeted, his fingers poking through the holes in his gloves as he did, “It’s not fair. Or right.”

“pap…” Axe sighed and looked up at him, “he’s not from here. like dusty isn’t. nobody can know besides us. they shouldn’t know there are worlds out there better than this that they can never see.”

The messed up Papyrus looked at Milk, expression clearly one of frustration that would normally include tears on his own brother. That’s what drove home how depleted this world was. Papyrus was too hungry to make enough magic to even cry.

“h-hey, uh, papyrus.” Milk tried to smile, drawing the giant’s attention. “if you get me a glass, i can show you what i can do.”

“OH YES!” shaking off his mood, Papyrus rushed back to the kitchen and returned with a chipped ceramic mug saying “bad to the bone” on it. Milk wasn’t sure if he’d noticed the words. “TRY THIS.”

Grinning, Milk concentrated and was able to fill the cup easily. “go ahead and drink it. it’s fresh.”

Astounded, Papyrus lifted the mug and bolted it down in an instant. Milk giggled as he saw the shocked expression, “IT ACTUALLY IS! WOWIE!”

“see, bro?” Relaxing into the sofa, Axe set Milk on the arm so he could tend to the soreness still present from his more direct feeding. “he said he’ll fill our fridge with milk if we have some empty bottles. i know we got plenty.”

“OH YES! OUR WATER TRAP FLOATERS!” Again, Papyrus rushed off, but returned this time with seven or eight gallon jugs. “THEY’RE ALL CLEAN, I MADE SURE OF IT.”

Milk nodded. He could fill those up easy, even at his smaller size. He just couldn’t do it all at once, so one at a time, each jug was filled and Papyrus put the cap on it. “it’s monster food, so it won’t spoil. just know from experience it’s better cold, at least to me.”

“OF COURSE!” Papyrus was elated, and before either of the other skeletons could stop him, began drinking directly from one of the jugs.

“b-bro, wait, slow down.” Axe groaned as he got up, pulling on the jug, “don’t get sick like i did. c’mon.”

This earned a whimper from Papyrus, but he did as asked, “S-SORRY, BROTHER. IT’S JUST….SO TEMPTING.”

“i know, bro, but we gotta take it slow.” Milk watched Axe get the cup back and pour milk into it. “just a cup at a time, and we wait a minute or two between, okay? i know it’s hard, but believe me, all at once hurts.”

“O-OH, IS THAT WHY YOUR MAGIC IS ALL RED INSTEAD OF NORMAL?” Papyrus asked as he tried to slowly drink from his cup.

“uh…yeah, bro. that’s why. ‘s just sore,” Axe sighed and sat back down, unable to keep his fingers out of his empty socket.

Milk just watched them, feeling intrusive. These two were interdependent in a way he’d never seen before. Every move was calculated and in tune with the other. But the misery and madness that permeated the whole underground was obvious, even here. The scars on their bones, the way even three cups or so of milk was enough to get Papyrus’ magic to start storing because it was too much at once, the eerie quiet that had never been part of Milk’s Snowdin…

“don’t be afraid to ask for me when you need more,” Milk offered.

“nah. can’t. ink won’t allow us out and about, so i only get out for work,” Axe growled softly.

“SAD BUT TRUE.” Papyrus sighed and put the cap on the milk jug. Even with his direct drinking, he’d only had about five cups worth and already looked to be very full. “THIS SHOULD KEEP US A WHILE WITH PROPER RATIONING.”

Just to be sure, Milk sneakily topped off the jug they’d been using. He wasn’t going to let this stand, that was for sure, no matter what Ink said.


	3. Relations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Milk is going to bring some friends this time

Axe didn’t know what he expected when he heard his machine activate again.

Sure, this had been how his actual friends had been sneaking into his universe without alerting Ink and having the ‘protector’ get bent out of shape that someone was ‘interfering’.

But when his pal, Milk sans, came out on the shoulder of a full sized Sans that Axe had never seen before, it was more than a surprise. Especially when said big Sans was pulling a wagon full of cooking ingredients.

And was then followed by a Papyrus doing the same.

“milk, what the hell are you doing here with those guys? who are they?” Axe grumbled as he led them out of his basement and back into the house. Had to be quick since they brought food.

“axe, this is cheftale sans and cheftale papyrus. i told them there were worlds full of starving people and…well…” the three inch skeleton on the chef’s shoulder grinned. “they feel about the same way i do about it.”

“WE CAN’T LET PEOPLE GO HUNGRY IF WE CAN CHANGE THAT,” Chef Papyrus asserted. “SMALL SANS WAS VERY RELUCTANT TO BRING US, ACTUALLY, OUT OF RESPECT FOR YOUR PRIVACY, BUT WE INSISTED. WE APOLOGIZE IF THAT’S RUDE.”

“rude, sure, but i’m not going to turn away a free meal,” Axe shrugged and shuffled into the kitchen. “just set your stuff up and do whatever. and don’t open the fridge, for your own sakes.”

The white clad Sans set Milk down on the table and asked, “are you comfortable with us just using our names? it’s your house, you deserve to be default sans.”

Chuckling softly, Axe flopped down on the couch in the living room, “haven’t heard that before. sure. i’m sans, and you can be cook. or whatever the hell ink calls you.”

“INK HASN’T CALLED US ANYTHING FOR MONTHS! MAYBE A YEAR BY NOW!” this new Papyrus was already fiddling with the stove and setting a pot of water on to boil. “I THINK HE MANAGED TO FORGET ABOUT US, OR MAYBE OUR CREATOR DID? I’M NOT SURE. NOBODY’S BEEN AROUND FOR A LONG TIME.”

“yeah, cook’s fine for me. pap can be the actual chef. ‘s only right,” Cook laughed a bit, starting to chop some vegetables. “how’s your bro, sans? he doing good today?”

“heh, yeah. we’ve both been doing a lot better since the milk fairy started visiting,” Axe winks at Milk, who beams at him. “don’t think we’d be half as stable if he hadn’t shown up.”

“s’the least i can do, sans,” Milk assured him, smile waning from guilt, “i just wish i’d have known sooner.”

“don’t blame yourself for ink being stupid,” Axe told him, red eye light staying on the tiny bones. “you’re a better man than he’ll ever be.”

Milk nodded and curled up as much as his little belly allowed, contemplative as the house became quiet. Only the sound of the two cooking bros making food was left.

—-

When Axe woke up from the sudden nap, Milk was dozing on his sternum and someone had covered them both with one of the ratty blankets from the back of the couch.

Axe’s brother was sitting on the other end, and looking elated. “GOOD MORNING, BROTHER. OR, WELL, EVENING, ACTUALLY. BUT OUR NEW FRIENDS ARE ALMOST FINISHED MAKING US FOOD. I TRIED TO HELP, BUT THEY SHOOED ME OUT SINCE THEY NEEDED SOMEONE TO MAKE SURE YOU AND MILK WERE COMFY.”

“heh, you did good, bro,” Axe spoke softly, not wanting to wake Milk just yet. “how was patrol today? get anything for the town?”

“OH YES. THERE WAS PLENTY.” He fidgeted with his gloves, “ALL THE PEOPLE ARE QUITE GRATEFUL SINCE WE’VE BEEN SO SPARING OF OURSELVES. IT…MAKES ME FEEL BAD, KNOWING WE’RE NOT ACTUALLY MISSING OUT FOR THEIR SAKE.”

“hey, we do what we can for them. if we could figure out a better way, we would. but you know how it is,” Axe cupped his hand over Milk to keep him from shifting as he sat up. “no feeling bad. we’re strong so we can protect and provide for them better, right?”

“RIGHT,” his crooked smile returned as he leaned his head gently against Axe’s forehead. “I’M SO GLAD YOU CAN KEEP THAT ALL STRAIGHT, BROTHER. I GET LOST SO EASILY.”

“i know, pap. i know.”

Milk jerked awake when Chef called from the kitchen, “COME GET IT!”

“whoa…how long was i out? and who moved me?” Milk muttered as he rubbed his sockets.

“cook did,” Axe guessed, and got a nod from the other sans. “and you were out long enough for dinner to be ready.”

“oh.” Milk watched Chompers eagerly head into the kitchen, and he smiled, “well, at least somebody’s happy.”

“heh, yeah. happens more every day,” getting up, Axe walked to the kitchen and set Milk gently on the table. “you eating with us?”

“nah, had food before i came so you guys could have the lot,” Milk grinned. “have at it, buddy.”

Axe shook his head, but as soon as the plate was set in front of him, it took all his focus.

Cook took Milk up to his shoulder and commented, “you weren’t kidding about them being fast eaters. not a scrap wasted, but boy does it go fast.”

“yeah, waste is a capital offense here.” Milk replied, voice soft, “i’m just glad you guys agree with me.”

“feeding hungry people is what we do,” Cook murmured as he watched his brother set out second helpings for the horror brothers, “what kind of monsters would we be if we didn’t help them? i don’t wanna know.”

–

The first sign of trouble was when Chompers finished his third plate and whined.

“what’s wrong?” Cook was instantly aware.

“I…I WANT MORE BUT I DON’T THINK I CAN.” He stared at his empty plate and pouted, but Axe noticed his brother wasn’t moving his arms from where they were resting against his body.

“THIS IS ALL MONSTER FOOD, SO THE LEFTOVERS WON’T SPOIL.” Chef gave his damaged mirror a pat on the shoulder, “DON’T HURT YOURSELF, FRIEND. THAT WOULD MAKE EVERYONE UNHAPPY, YES?”

“YES.” Chompers sighed and pushed himself away from the table. “UM, I THINK I’LL GO TO BED NOW. I’LL WAIT FOR YOU UPSTAIRS, SANS.” For someone so tall, he left quite quickly.

Axe sighed, “i’ll finish up and go after him. thanks, for all this, guys,” he had to admit he was close to his limit, too.

“it’s no trouble, really,” Cook took one of the free seats. “literally our jobs. feel free to send me a beep through that doo-dad in your basement anytime.”

Axe nodded, eating more slowly so he could actually finish what he had in front of him.

-

When Axe said goodbye to everyone, he got upstairs (a little slower than normal) and sat down at the foot of his brother’s bed. “you doing okay, pap?”

“MMMN,” Chompers was curled up in his covers, already in his pajamas. “I THINK SO, BUT…SANS, IS IT NORMAL TO FEEL VERY SLEEPY AFTER FOOD?”

“heh, yeah. why do you think i slept so much in the old days?” Axe smiled indulgently at his brother’s innocent question.

“OH. THAT DOES EXPLAIN THINGS, YES.” Relieved of worry, he sighed and snuggled his pillow closer. “IT ALSO HURT FOR A BIT, BUT CHANGING MY CLOTHES AND LAYING DOWN HELPED.”

Sighing, Axe got up and took out a book from the shelf, “yeah, that sounds about right. how about we read some puzzle books, tonight, eh?”

“OH YES, GOOD CHOICE,” came the eager reply. “THINKING UP NEW TRAPS HELPS ME SLEEP WELL EVERY TIME.”

“alright, so…let’s see…” Axe took his usual chair, leaning back in it just a bit to help his own aching stomach just a bit. He’d finished, yeah, but he wasn’t the same guy who used to eat five burgers and still go home to spaghetti. It was a lot at once for him now, just three reasonable plates of food. But he hoped that would change, that things could get back to somewhat normal if he and the others could just….well…that was for another time.

“the best place to hide a switch is out of immediate sight,” he read off, noticing his brother was already drooping into his mattress. Yeah. Right now, he just had to read. Read and hope tomorrow was better.


End file.
